Catch Me When I Fall
by farrahbelle64
Summary: Raleigh Burns and Stephen Farrelly have been best friends since she can remember. But what happens when one of them wants something more? Will they be able to be more than friends? Or will simply trying push them away forever?
1. Chapter 1

Raleigh Burns bounded up the stairs of her best friend's parent's house. She'd been visiting them since the patriarch of the family had had open heart surgery a few weeks earlier. Since her best friend since about the fourth grade couldn't be home as much as he'd like, Raleigh took it upon herself to stay with his folks for a bit while his dad recuperated. Raleigh, or Rae as most people called her, had made the long trek to Ireland like she'd done so many times before. The first was when her parents had split and she'd pooled all her babysitting money and flown by herself at fourteen. She'd made the trip about twice a year since then.

She and Stephen had "met" in third grade when her class had done a pen pal project with a school in Ireland. It had only lasted a few months through the school year, but since Rae hadn't had anyone to talk to most of her childhood she had asked the teacher if she could keep writing to her pen pal. At first Stephen had been uninterested in keeping up his end of the pen pal situation, but Rae had sent so many letters, and they were so detailed with everything in her life. He soon felt protective of her, like she was his little sister. When she'd called him from the airport in Dublin at fourteen he couldn't wait to finally see her face to face. She'd been balled up in the lobby in tears, the idea of what she'd just done sinking in. His parents had obviously let her stay even though they had originally been mad as hell at the fact that this girl had just flown herself across the world. But once they heard about what was happening at home they couldn't help but feel they had to do something for her. She'd had to go back of course, but the friendship she'd made in Stephen had been cemented that week she was in Ireland. They had written every week since then, and when email came into popularity they talked even more. She learned about his trouble with high school and how he wanted to go into body building but his Mum insisted on getting an education first, and he learned how she'd had to call 911 for the tenth time in a year because her mother was passed out on some binge. Rae was never censored in what she told him, which scared him sometimes because his home life was so different than hers. Where Stephen had a loving supportive family, some might say boring even, Rae had raised herself. Her parent split was the culmination of a childhood of fighting and drugs. Her parents had had her young, being only nineteen and twenty. They'd spent most of the time living in L.A. moving from apartment to shelters to more small apartments. Sometimes Rae didn't think they even remembered having a daughter.

The best day of her life should have been when her dad said he was leaving. He'd gotten clean, he was working steadily. He made the decision to leave his drug addled wife because he knew it wasn't good for him. But at thirty three he didn't want a teenage daughter either. So he had packed up his things and left them. Because her mother, Carmen, didn't work it wasn't long till they were back on the streets. Rae managed to get them into a studio and she worked every day after school to pay the rent. Her mother was gone mostly, getting drugs and making money in ways that Rae didn't even want to imagine. She'd had friends from school but it was only when she sat down the write to Stephen, whether a real letter sitting in the tiny apartment or sending an email from the library, did she feel totally free and able to tell someone everything. Maybe it was because he was so far away, and part of her always thought they'd lose touch that she could be so honest. There was also the fact that as long as she was a minor her mother could be taken from her. If she told a friend at school the real story, they could tell a teacher and Rae might have ended up a ward of the state. She'd seen what happened to those girls and it wasn't any better than her situation growing up. Plus who would take care of Carmen? She'd never been a good mother, or a mother at all but she was still all Rae had for a family. So for the last twenty tumultuous years or so they'd been best friends via correspondence, with twice yearly visits. Stephen had pursued his body building dream and it had led a lucrative career with the WWE as a professional wrestler. He'd moved to Florida a few years back and Rae had relocated there as well. She spent most of her time juggling different waitressing jobs while taking care of her mom, but always made time to hang out with Stephen when he was home. He was her best friend, and always would be.

"Oh Rae, you always take those stairs three at a time, you're going to kill yourself one day!" Stephens dad yelled up from the living room but Rae was already in the guest bedroom putting some of her things back in her suitcases. She'd been staying at the Farrelly house for three weeks now helping his mom while his dad got over his surgery. It was the least she could have done after all they'd done for her. Stephen had been able to come home for the surgery itself but he really couldn't afford to stay home in his line of work. So Rae had come for a long visit. She'd left her mother in the care of a friend for a few weeks and sublet her apartment until she could return. She'd had to quit her waitressing job at a swanky new martini bar, but waitressing gigs in St. Augustine were a dime a dozen, so she wouldn't have trouble picking up another when she got back. She had been taking some classes at the local community college but they were all online so it she could take them from anywhere. She put the last of her bathroom things into the case and zipped it up. She had a return flight for that evening, she was sad to go but Stephens parents were set by themselves now, his dad was even returning to work in a few days.

"You know I'm really going to miss this place, I don't know how Stephen could ever have left." Rae exclaimed jumping back down the steps and taking a spot on the couch opposite his dad.

"Well you make hard decisions when you find what you love." His dad replied, eyes glossing over a little bit. Rae took that moment to head into the kitchen to finishing cleaning up from lunch. She knew that was a kind of hard subject for Ste's dad. He'd missed his son terribly since he'd been gone.

She came into the kitchen to find Ste's mom finishing up putting the dishes away and Rae quickly jumped in to help.

"Oh Dearie you don't have to do that, I've got to get used to cleaning myself now that you'll be leaving." The woman said looking at Rae lovingly.

"Well If you guys would only hire me on full time I could stay" Rae chimed in, a smile creeping on the older woman's face.

"Maybe when you and Stephen finally end up together, then I won't have to hire you on, you'll just be part of the family." She looked over with a wink. That was probably her number one wish for her son apart from success with his wrestling career, that he end up marrying Rae. It was nauseating to Rae since she looked at him like a brother, but his mom still held out hope.

"I'm already apart of the family duh, and that would be too weird, like marrying my brother." Rae said smirking as they put the last of the dishes away. It would be weird indeed.

The flight finally landed at Orlando International Airport at around 11:15am. Raleigh stood at the entrance of her terminal waiting on the taxi she'd called an hour ago. She couldn't help but notice an extremely leggy blonde being assisted into a limo. Must be nice she thought to herself, sitting on her luggage impatiently waiting on a ride. She could have taken Ste up on his offer to have a driver waiting for her, but she hated to spend his money. He'd bought her car a few months earlier and she'd felt forever in debt to him. She kind of wished she'd parked that car here now. Instead it was safely locked away in her garage back home. Finally the yellow cab pulled up in front of her, "Burns?" The man yelled from the window.

"Yes, that's me." She replied loading her things into the back of the cab. She jumped in and they were off, back to her tiny apartment in the center of town. She was never so happy to be seeing it.

The cab pulled up in front of her building and like all nice cab drivers, he sped off as soon as her things were out of his car. Would have been nice to help take them in, but there really aren't any gentlemen left Rae thought to herself as she walked up to the door. She'd called two days before leaving to let the sublet company know she was returning but she was nervous to see what kind of disarray her place was in. she was surprised to find the door already unlocked, and slowly turned the handle.


	2. You Can't Escape Your Troubles

_As she slowly turned the door handle Raleigh could hear stirring in her apartment. Wow, she thought, the sublet people were supposed to be out of here by the time I got back! She started into the foyer of her apartment and was surprised to find the lights off. Flicking on the light switch she was taken aback by the sights and sounds before her. _

"_SURPRISE! Your Home", cried Natsia and Barbie, Raleigh's two good friends. Natsia stood holding a whole tray of chocolate cupcakes, her specialty while Barbie held onto a bottle of wine. Barbie, or as the whole world knew her Kelly Kelly, had become Raleigh's good friend when she moved to Florida to be closer to Stephen. They'd spent most of her breaks together having girl time, and Natsia was a Pharmacist who lived down the street and had befriended Rae one morning as they both ran the track around the park that was in the center of town._

"_Oh my goodness you guys are crazy!" Rae said shutting the door behind her, her heart beating a million miles a minute._

"_Well we decided to be ready for you when you got back, and I just wanted an excuse to get bake some sinful food." Natsia replied putting the cupcakes down on the table and giving her friend a hug._

"_And you know I love an excuse to break out something alcoholic!" Barbie squealed already popping open the wine. _

"_Well I could use an afternoon by the pool, Ireland's not the warmest of places you know, I have missed my Florida sunshine!" Rae exclaimed running up the stairs to grab her bikini. The three girls got their wine glasses and headed out to the pool that all the apartment tenants shared. It wasn't the biggest apartment but it had a nice pool and laundry on site and it wasn't in a bad neighborhood which Rae appreciated having grown up on basically the wrong side of the side that was already on the wrong side of the tracks. _

"_I really missed you these past few weeks you know, it's bad enough Barbara Jean is gone constantly but then you were gone too, it was like murder." Natsia complained as they lay in the afternoon sun._

"_Oh cry me a river Ms. Smarty Pants. We couldn't all go to school forever and make six figures like you." Barbie added._

"_Oh please, like you don't make triple what I make, and you just strut around on stage!" Natsia threw back at her._

"_Now girls, don't make me put you in time out. You both make oodles of money, which is why I'm quitting my job and you're both supporting me from now on right?" Rae added laughing. She knew Nat and Barb really did love each other and they hung out just the two of them plenty of times, but she also knew part of Natsia really resented the fact that she had studied so hard and she still didn't make as much money as Barb, who wasn't dumb, but also wasn't that smart. "Oh you think so huh? I don't think I could support your Louboutins habit. I might need to take a second gig just to pay for that." Barbie added laughing. That part was true; no one could afford Rae's shoe habit. She had two pairs of real Louboutins, both from Ste, but she'd pretty much designed about a hundred pairs and painted the soles red to look the part. That was her little secret though, and only Stephen knew the truth about her shoe collection._

"_Ugh, ya'll I wish could I stay and do this all day, but I've got to pick up my mom, I bet Harmony's going nuts with Carmen. She knew I was getting in today." Rae said groaning. They'd been sunbathing for a good hour and a half and they'd finished their wine. It was definitely time to go pick up Carmen from the rehab she had stayed at while Raleigh had been away. It was a day facility but they had offered to care for Carmen at their sober house while Rae was gone, only because she was good friends with Harmony the director. It felt kind of like leaving a dog at a kennel and it hurt Rae to do it, but there was no one else she wanted to burden with her mother. It was a tough job taking care of a recovering drug addict. The only person that had ever watched her besides that facility had been Stephen. It was about a year ago and she'd had to go back to California for a weekend to tie up some things with her mother's past and she had wanted to see her Dad. That had been before she'd found the New Hope facility and she'd been frantic trying to figure out how she was going to bring her mother on the trip. Ste had offered, and seeing no other option Rae had reluctantly agreed. The weekend had gone well for him, luckily, but he knew the episodes that Carmen could have had. It was a relief to Rae that she hadn't. _

_Rae left the girls to their sunbathing and hopped in her car to go pick up Carmen. She'd been doing well lately so hopefully there hadn't been any situations while she was gone._

_Walking up to the steps of the facility she could see Harmony peering out the window. _

"_Hey your back!" Harmony yelled running out to greet Raleigh._

"_Yeah, I'm glad to be home, I never knew how much I'd miss the warmth." Rae said hugging her friend. _

"_We'll you'll be glad to know that your mom was no trouble. We had her busy the whole time and she made some real health improvements from last week. So how was it? Did you have fun?" Harmony asked trying to give her the professional recap as well as be a friend in the same sentence._

"_It was great to get away, and his parents were really grateful for the extra help, although they catered to me a little more than they needed to." Rae said as the two girls walked inside._

"_Well of course, you're their favorite child after all. Have you talked to Stephen since you got back?" Harmony asked as they entered the kitchen. _

"_Not yet, probably give him a call when I get mom home and situated. How was it?" Rae asked lowering her voice ready for whatever horror stories Harmony had to share._

"_Oh it was fine, we had a great time, she's just outside let me grab her." Harmony added walking out a sliding glass door to the right of the kitchen. Because of her drug abuse for so many years Rae's mother has a condition called Hallucination Persisting Perception Disorder. It caused her to randomly see something that wasn't there and sometimes because of that she could cause harm to herself or others. Because of this Rae couldn't leave her alone or without someone familiar with the condition. Most of the day Carmen was alright but every now and then she'd start screaming at something that wasn't there or start having a conversation with people who weren't there, when that happened Rae needed to take caution. She'd inject her mother with strong sedative and simply let her sleep it off. There wasn't really a cure for these episodes short of leaving her a vegetable, so Rae dealt with the good and the bad. Some days she and her mother could have a whole day free of hallucinations and talk about everyday things. Rae helped her to eat healthier and keep active to try and thwart off the HPPD, but so far the doctors had always said her mother's case was the worst they'd seen and they didn't see her ever fully coming back to reality. It hurt Rae to see her mother, now clean five years, yet suffering almost worse than when she would come home completely doped up. _

"_Where have you been?" Carmen asked dashing inside. She looked skinnier than when Raleigh had left._

"_Mom, I had to take a trip remember? It was a long trip across the whole ocean. It took a long time to go there and back." Rae said, using a fifth grade explanation since that's all her mother could really understand. _

"_Well, I suppose. You know you used to take trips when you were young. I wouldn't see her for days, she'd come back from these trips you know. She'd take these big trips." Carmen sputtered on as she sat at the kitchen table. _

"_But I always came back now didn't I?" Rae said, playing into her mother's memories. It wasn't out of the ordinary for her mother to remember things differently than her young daughter had. Whereas Rae remembered her mother leaving her in some shelter or rat infested apartment for a couple weeks and going on a binge, Carmen had suppressed those memories as Raleigh being the one that had left. She'd go into a temper tantrum and sometimes get violent if you tried to remind her of what really happened. It was best to just let her live out what she thought her life had been like. _

"_Well momma, you ready to go home? Nat's there, I know she's missed your stories!" Raleigh said, collecting her mother's things. Harmony got her medicine from the lock box and handed it to Rae. Hmm, she thought to herself. All six injections she'd left with Harmony where still there. She hadn't used any? Or maybe she'd refilled the script. It wasn't good for Carmen to go too long with her hallucinations; it could send her into a permanent state of insanity, where no one, not even Raleigh, could pull her out._

"_We are home, what are you talking about? This is my home. I have my own room and there is a garden and this is my house!" Carmen started yelling and throwing her arms around._

_Great Raleigh thought. She's good for three weeks without me and the second I get home its time to have an episode. I guess that's typical. _

"_No momma, this is Harmony's house. You were just having a sleepover. We had a garden at our house, it's a lot bigger, and it's got sunflowers remember?" Rae coaxed, trying to get her mom to want to come home. That was the best way to get her to agree with you, by making it seem like she would be getting something bigger. Then by the time they did get home she'd forget all about the previous place. _

"_Well, now that I think about it, this décor really isn't my idea of classy anyway, it's drab." Carmen said with a huff. Rae half smiled at Harmony who just waved her hand in reply. Sometimes the things her mom said were so hurtful, and it could really ruin things if you didn't know her background._

_The ride back to their apartment was long and silent. Sometimes Raleigh didn't know what to talk to her mother about. If she told her different things she'd never know if they could trigger an episode. The violent moments were so unpredictable, it was scary sometimes. But Rae had always believed she'd get her mother to stop having them. They were getting to be less frequent and all the doctors had said she may eventually stop having the hallucinations altogether. All Raleigh had to was wait, and hope. _


	3. Coming home is always sweet

Stephen exited the flight into Orlando a little quicker than normal. He hadn't been home in a few weeks and he was eager to sleep in his own bed, plus Raleigh was back from Ireland. She'd been staying there for the past few weeks helping out his Mum while his Dad healed up from having heart surgery. It was a pretty routine surgery so he hadn't been overly worried, but he wished he could have taken the time off to go back himself. It was hard though working for the WWE, they never stopped, were always on the road, and he always had a job to do. Time off had to be requested months in advance so your "character" could be written off the show for it. So he'd had to stay in the States, instead his best friend and confidant Raleigh had gone in his place. She'd been a part of his life for so long he sometimes had trouble remembering when she hadn't been there. At first it had been some dumb school project that he really hadn't been that interested in. His mother had been the one to find one of her pen pal letters and force him to keep in touch. "That girl needs someone to talk to, you should keep writing." She'd told him. She had been going through one of her Lifetime Movie phases and the girl's sob stories had touched her. They hadn't imagined it had all been 100% true. Where he had had a stable family life with love and support, she'd never been even acknowledged. She'd taken care of herself and when her Father had abandoned her she'd taken care of her mother. Something she still did to this day, as her mother couldn't be left to fend for herself. That was something he had always admired in her, her willingness to care so deeply for someone who had never returned the favor, and probably never would.

Walking through the airport he tried to keep a low profile, hard for someone of his stature to do. He just wanted to be home already, even though he loved his fans he didn't want to be sidetracked by autographs and photos. Luckily it wasn't too busy in the airport and he was able to get a taxi quickly. He got home around seven pm. Rae had probably already gone to pick up her mom, and the girls were probably over. He knew Barbie and Natsia, Rae's girlfriends, had been planning a welcome home party for her, so they'd no doubt spent the better part of the day laying out at the pool. He was tired but he wanted to see her, to ask on about his parents and see how her trip had been. He sent her a quick text to let her know he was in town and he'd be over before jumping in the shower.

Raleigh jumped at her phone vibrating on the table. She'd been immersed in the classifieds trying to find a decent sounding job to get, her mother was napping. She picked up the phone and looked at it, a smile creeping to her face. "**I'm home. Can I stop by around nine? Just to see how the trip was and see you guys."** Job searching will have to wait then, Rae thought as she looked down at herself. She hadn't showered since her 8 hour flight back from Ireland, she knew she looked terrible. Not that she needed to impress Ste, but she didn't want to scare him either. She walked to the bathroom pausing to check on her mom, she was still fast asleep in the bedroom. Rae decided to let her sleep; she'd simply shower with the door open in case her mom woke up. She had had one episode a few months back where Rae had been showering and her mother had seen someone in the apartment. She'd run outside and into traffic. Of course there hadn't been anyone in the apartment, it was all in her mind, but she could have been hit by a car and killed. Rae had had to take special precautions during shower time since then. She was excited to see Ste; she hadn't seen him since about two weeks before she'd left for Ireland. He'd gone there for the initial surgery but then had had to fly right back out to LAX, so she'd flown over a few days after he'd left. They hadn't actually seen each other in about five weeks, which was long for them. Finishing her shower Raleigh sauntered back to her room turning on the baby monitor so she could here if her mother woke up. It seemed silly but it's what she had to do to assure her safety. Where most people would have committed their relative by now, Rae had decided to instead try to help her, to coax her back to health. She knew her mother had good days with her daughter, something she would never have in some cold psychiatric hospital.

Raleigh rummaged through her closet searching for something to wear. She hadn't even thought about tackling her suitcases but it had been cooler in Ireland so luckily most of her Florida clothes were still neatly in her closet. She settled on a blue and pink floral baby doll dress. It was breezy and soft on her light skin. She'd been lying out all day but hardly had any color, not that she tanned much anyway. She pretty much always stayed the color of soft peach, thanks to the genes from her Welsh Father and Norwegian Mother. She paired it with a soft black cardigan because it was getting cooler. Spraying a bit of Victoria's secret, Love Spell, she tiptoed downstairs to put on some coffee and wait for Stephen. She sat down on the couch and flipped on the TV while she waited.

The sound of the door opening jarred her from her sleep. How long have I been out? She wondered to herself. She looked back at the foyer to see Stephen shutting the door. He slid off his shoes, a house rule, and walked into the living room and taking a seat on the chair next to Rae.  
"I texted you that I was here, and knocked, then made the executive decision to use my own key." He said, taking the remote and changing the channel.

"Sorry, I didn't even realize I'd fallen asleep, how was your flight back?" Rae asked yawning and putting out a big stretch.

"Same as all the others, but I should ask you how yours was, you don't get to fly much, how was it? How are my folks?" Stephen asked, turning to face his best friend.

"Oh they were wonderful; you know they hardly needed me. Your mom and did some touring of the city, and your dad almost had me beat at chess. Almost" Rae said laughing.

"Oh really, that's not always easily done. Where's your mum at?" Stephen asked settling the television on say yes to the dress, not because he liked it but because there was nothing else on and he knew it was Rae's favorite.

"She's good, she's sleeping. I guess she didn't have any episodes while I was gone, but of course freaks out when I'm picking her up. She started to go crazy saying I took all these trips, then she thought she was already home so she didn't want to leave. I did get her out of it thought without drugging her which I think is progress." Rae said getting up and heading into the kitchen.

"You want anything to drink? I think Nats left some wine here, or I've got V8. Or water." Raleigh called from the kitchen.

"Wine? Rae, I thought you weren't drinking." Stephen said joining her in the kitchen. He wasn't pleased to hear that Natsia had brought wine over. He knew the girls often brought over cocktails, but he wasn't impressed to find that Raleigh had possibly been drinking. He wasn't completely against it but he felt protective of Rae and didn't want her to head down the same path as her mom.

"We just had a few glasses by the pool, don't worry. I didn't get crazy or anything. You should know me better than that." Rae replied, reaching into her cupboard for two glasses. She filled each with water and added some single serve kool aid packets. It wasn't the fanciest thing, but it tasted good. She handed Ste his and then downed hers in about two minutes. She hadn't realized how thirsty she was.

"Sorry I jumped at you. I just don't like the idea of you drinking all day with the girls, and I've known Barbara a little bit longer than you and she'd not always the best influence you know? I'm just looking out for ya kid." Stephen said, feeling sorry he'd jumped to conclusions. He knew it was almost hypocritical since he went out for beers with the guys after almost every show, but she had family history with addiction and he didn't want to see her go down that path.

"It's fine, let's not talk about that. How long are you in town for anyway? I've got to drop off a couple job applications tomorrow but we could hit the gym if you wanted, or maybe drive down to Vero Beach?" Rae suggested. They always tried to go to Vero if they could, there was so much to do there and Rae loved the little shops and the beaches.

"I've got a flight on Friday to L.A., then I don't think I'll be back until the twentieth, maybe longer. I've got to get things ready to leave again, we could do the gym though. Maybe hang out around here, where are you applying?" Stephen asked as they walked back into the living room.

"First off you don't need to get anything ready, you know I'll do it for you your almost helpless when it comes to logistics, and second I found a couple decent sounding restaurants that need wait staff." Rae added, flipping off the TV, nothing was on anyway.

"Waitressing huh? When are you done with school?" Stephen replied.

"Next semester will be my last, then I'll have a bachelors in media communications, not that I know what on earth I'm going to do with that." Rae laughed. She had initially gone after a degree in media communications after briefly dating a producer at the local television station. He thought it would be good for her to work in his field, and it had seemed interesting. But her relationships never last much more than a couple weeks, and unfortunately that had been all the time it took to sign up for classes in a degree she had no idea what to do with.

"Well, you could do a lot I would think with that, especially around here. The commute to Orlando isn't that bad, maybe work at Disney?" Stephen suggested.

"Okay, that actually sounds like a smart thing to do, you know how I feel about smart ideas. I hate them, lets do something crazy instead." Rae said lying down across the couch her head in Ste's lap.

"Crazy huh, what do you suggest?" Stephen asked, playing with her long brown beachy curls. The two friends were so comfortable with each other they did not even notice how intimate a moment they were now having.

"I don't know, something, anything. We could go mini golfing, I guess that's not too crazy, but its fun!" Rae suggested.

"It's getting a little late for that don't you think? Plus your mom's already in bed. Why don't we watch a move instead?" Stephen said with a yawn. He smiled at Rae knowing he was going to win her over for a boring night in. He knew she loved to get out and have fun, but she was really a homebody at heart.

"Alright Mr. Lame-o Pants, what movie? Has anything good come out lately, I've been out of the country remember?" Rae asked flipping the television back on and searching for the rental channel.

They decided on a comedy, it ended up being really stupid and silly but it made them both laugh and passed the time. Raleigh fell asleep though halfway thru and Stephen decided to let himself out. He stretched her out on the couch and covered her up with a blanket from her bedroom. He kissed her forehead and headed for the door. Staring back at her as he went to leave he felt a sudden rush of warmth through his body. She looked so beautiful lying there fast asleep, no troubles in her eyes, no worry on her face. He wished there was some way that he could make her always this way, to take all her pain and worry away from her life. Someday he whispered, someday.


	4. The Calm Before the Storm

Raleigh awoke on her living room couch. She didn't even remember falling asleep the night before. She grabbed her cell from the coffee table and read the text from Stephen from the night before. _**You looked so peaceful I didn't want to wake you. I'm going to work out early, let me know if you want to grab lunch. Bring your mom with you, I should say Hi to her before I leave.**_ Wow, that was so sweet it was sick. Even though Rae knew Ste just really did genuinely care about her and her mom it sometimes was a little overly sweet. She sometimes wished he'd find a girlfriend before she started to think he was really gay. She laughed to herself, she knew that wasn't the case, but they both were getting older, soon they'd only have each other left.

Raleigh bounded up the stairs to wash her face and brush her teeth; she stopped by her mom's room to find her still sleeping. Hmm, she thought, she slept a really long time. She walked into the room to make sure she was still breathing, and she was.

"Mom?" Rae said shaking her mother gently. "Are you getting up soon?" Carmen stirred slightly, finally opening her eyes. The same deep brown, almost black that she shared with Rae.

"Oh baby, I'm just so exhausted, what time is it?" Carmen asked sleepily.

"It's almost nine now, I fell asleep last night too when Stephen was over, but he wants to go to lunch with us, so you'll have to wake up eventually." Rae said.

"I've missed him. He's a good man Raleigh, better than the men that girls like us normally find." Carmen said, standing up with a stretch.

"I know Momma, I'm going to hop in the shower quick, will you be alright until I get out?" Rae asked.

"Yes, honey, I'll just be downstairs getting something to eat." Carmen said turning out of the room to walk downstairs.

Rae made her way to the bathroom and turned on the shower to warm up the water. Better than the men we normally find, she thought to herself. That was something her mother had always told her. That they were a certain kind of girl, only meant to do certain things with their lives, and only meant to find certain kinds of men. The kind that mistreated them and weren't any good. Rae liked to imagine this was not the case; she could do anything she wanted. She used Natsia as an example. She'd moved from Russia as a young girl and her parents hadn't had a whole lot, and now look at everything she'd accomplished. Rae would be done with her degree soon and maybe she could find a nice house for her and Carmen. She'd show her mother that she could do anything, and she wasn't meant for only a certain kind of man. She could do anything with her life.

Raleigh finished her shower and headed downstairs to find her mom already changed and sitting reading the paper. She walked over to grab some coffee, sitting down next to her mother.

"So where do you think you want to head to lunch today? We could go to Sylvia's, we haven't been there in a while." Rae suggested.

"Oh that sounds nice, is Stephen still coming?" Her mother asked.

"Yeah, I'll just having him meet us there, I can send a text now. He was excited to see you." Rae said taking out her phone.

"Yes, that would be fine. But I'd like to get back home earlier; I'm still a bit tired." Carmen said with a yawn.

Her mother had been awfully tired since she'd picked her up the day before. It was strange to see her so lethargic. Raleigh wondered what she'd done at the home with Harmony for the past few weeks.

"Why are you so tired mom? You should have had a relaxing time with Harmony. Did she put ya to work over there?" Rae asked, laughing.

"No we didn't do a whole lot, I started on a new medicine though, she said she had told you, it might make me sleepy." Carmen said with another yawn. A new medicine? Rae wasn't made aware of any new medications for Carmen, and Natsia hadn't said anything about it, and she handled all of Carmen's medications.

"A new medicine? Do you have it with you?" Rae asked, looking at her mother quizzically. Carmen took out the medication from her purse on the table, which was another thing that Rae didn't like. She always kept her mother's medication locked and either she or Natsia had the key to the lock box. The box had traveled with Carm to Harmony's and Rae had trusted Harmony to keep everything locked up. Rae took the bottle in her hand; it read Gabapentin on the side. This was a medication they'd wanted her to try, but Rae had been wary of it. It had some really scary side effects.

"Harmony said I should be taking every medication I can, to help ease the pain I'm going through. She said you were trying to heal me naturally Raleigh that nonsense doesn't work." Carmen said taking a sip of her coffee.

"I don't know mom, all these medicines are scary, you can't mix certain ones together, we'll have to run this by Natsia first, she knows the most about your medications. Then we can talk about Harmony, maybe she's not the best doctor for you." Rae said with a sigh. She loved Harmony and trusted her. And she was the best recovery therapist she'd found as of yet.

"Honestly Rae, she's a fine doctor, she's cheap as well, and you're always trying to be so fancy." Carmen said, finishing off her cup of coffee. That was the thing that upset Raleigh most about her mother, she always wanted to keep her down, why bother dreaming at all. Rae knew it was just because Carmen's own life had hit so many detours, nothing had gone planned for her, her life had taken a turn for the worst.

"I'm not trying to be fancy mom, I just don't want you being pushed into medications that are not the best for you. I want you to feel better, but I also don't want you sleeping all the time and becoming a vegetable." Rae said, taking the empty cup and putting it into the dishwasher.

"I'm going to finish getting ready and give Stephen a call, why don't you just relax, I'll be ready soon and we'll have a nice lunch." Rae said walking out of the room.

Walking into her room Rae looked over her closet. It was a mix of the same type of tank top in every color imaginable, the same kind of khaki short, the same kind of denim skirt. Her clothing was all basically the same. She always loved to go shopping but she just didn't have the extra money. She had a few nice hand me downs from Natsia, and she and Barbara had the same shoe size, but it was always a little embarrassing to get handouts from her friends, after all she was making it just fine. Once she graduated she could get a higher paying job and then things would be great. She settled on a simple denim mini skirt and a pink sequined halter from express that Natsia had given her a few years earlier, it wasn't anything new but she liked how it hugged her curves without being clingy. She slipped into some espadrilles and scrunched her hair a little. She'd need a haircut soon before it got out of hand. Thanks to her Mother she had hair that was straighter than straight, but her father had given her frizz. The only thing she loved was the fact that her hair was a deep burgundy color, chocolate brown with pinky red undertones. It came from the fact that her father had been a red head and her mother had had jet black hair. She never once dyed it but she did have to spray it to death to get it to stay straight. She curled the ends a bit and clipped it back. Simple and out of her face, just how she liked it to be. She walked back downstairs to gather up her things and get her mom ready to leave, she would need her daily injection before they left.

"Mom? Are you around here?" Rae called out in the apartment. She hoped she hadn't wandered outside, it was so hard to get her to come back from the garden. It had been one of her favorite things as a young girl, before drugs had consumed her life and it was one of the things she still held dear today.

"I'm right here, just putting my shoes on." Carmen said from the kitchen. She sat at the table putting on her sneakers. Rae went to her side to help her with the laces.

"Here Mom, let me help you. Are you excited for our girls day out today?" Rae asked her mother as she laced the sneaks.

"Yes, I did miss seeing you. Did you enjoy your trip to Ireland?" Carmen asked. Raleigh looked up at her mother shocked, she didn't normally remember details like that. Too much of her memory was gone.

"Why yes, I really did. I'm surprised you knew where I'd been. Did Harmony remind you?" Rae asked. Sometimes if you told her something every day she'd hang on to the information.

"No, I can remember important things Raleigh. You don't have to assume I'm so stupid." Carmen said looking hurt. Rae could already tell this was going to be an awesome day.

"Listen Mom, I don't want to argue with you today. Of course I don't think your stupid at all, sometimes you just forget because of all the drugs you used to do, you are so smart because you don't do them anymore. But you can't expect your brain to function the same after all it's been through. You know how much I love you." Rae said standing up and heading toward the door. "Now let's get a move on, or else we'll be late and Stephen might leave, you don't want that to happen now do you?" Rae said. Her mother smiled and stood up grabbing her jacket. Rae knew how much she got loved Ste, they'd always gotten along and he was patient with her through her tirades. She decided to wait on the injection until later, maybe give her that with her Ambien so she'd take a nap and not put up too much of a fuss.

They made their way out to the garage and into the little Ford Focus. Stephen had bought it for Raleigh a few months earlier when he found out she'd been waiting for the bus at her last waitressing job. It hadn't been in the greatest of areas and since she got out at one or two in the morning, he didn't feel good letting her wait for the bus to get home. Of course Rae had put up a fuss, but in the end Stephen had told her it would just be his car that she used since he wasn't home anyway. She'd laughed at the thought of him even fitting in a ford focus; usually they drove around in his explorer. Rae turned on some jazz and they pulled out of the apartment's garage. Her apartment wasn't in the greatest neighborhood, but it also wasn't the worst. At least she was the only one on her side that had a vehicle, so she got use of the garage. It was a lot different driving over toward Natsia and Barbara's complex, with the huge condo's and well groomed lawns. Rae had met Nat first, she only lived down the street but the condos were a completely different world. It was walking distance to the beach and the condos were really nice. It was the kind of complex Rae had hoped she'd be able to afford once she graduated. Barbie had moved into the condos a short time after befriended Raleigh, but she was hardly home. She split up the time staying there and at her boyfriend Justin's house along with being on the road.

They pulled into Sylvia's Beachfront Diner and headed in. Stephen was already there at their usual table, Carmen lit up to see him.

"Hello Carmen! I've miss you. How've you been?" Stephen asked, enveloping the older woman in a hug.

"Oh wonderful dear, Harmony and I watched you every week." Carmen said taking a seat. It was funny how her moods could switch so suddenly.

"Hey Rae, you look wonderful." Stephen said pulling out a chair for her.

"Oh, thanks, just threw on what I could find. How was your workout?" Rae asked, feeling funny in her stomach. She hated when Stephen complimented her like that, it made her feel funny. Like having your brother see you from behind and think you're a really hot chick, then you turn around and you're his sister.

"It was great, if you hadn't slept the day away, you could have joined me. I'm only home 'till tomorrow night, then I think I'm gone for three weeks." Stephen said taking a sip of his water. They waitress came over and took their drink orders; they all got the same thing so time wasn't wasted there. Stephen only joined them when he could but Raleigh and Carmen tried to make it once a week at least.

"So you'll be gone for three weeks? I'll be done with classes by then, will you be home for very long?" Rae asked, sipping on her cranberry juice.

"Oh I'm not sure, maybe a week or so, then off again. It'll calm down a bit closer to thanksgiving, maybe this summer you guys could come out to a couple shows? Bring Nat with ya?" Stephen said. Carmen was not involved in the conversation at all, she was simply staring out the window. Stephen nudged Raleigh so she'd notice her as well. But the second Rae looked over at her mother, she knew it was about to happen. Carmen leapt from her seat and started to scream.


	5. There Are No Easy Decisions

Carmen's screams caused everyone in the diner to stare over. Raleigh quickly grabbed the needles from her bag and stuck one in the side of Carmen's hip. She immediately sat down and started sobbing.

"He was right there baby, he was right there. He wanted me to come back with him. Didn't you see?" Carmen moaned between sobs.

"No mom, there wasn't anybody there. Let's get you home, I'm sorry Ste, maybe you could follow us there?" Rae asked, looking sorry to have cut their lunch short.

"No, it's no problem, just drive to my place. She can rest in the guest room and you can help me sort out my flights and hotel for me." Stephen said, he stood up and went to pay the waitress.

"Okay, I'll meet you there." Raleigh said helping her mother out the door. People stared the whole way, no doubt talking about what could be wrong with her. As much as it hurt for people to think her mother was crazy, it was actually a lot better than people wondering what kind of drug she might be on.

Rae made it back to the car with her mom who was not starting to feel the effects of the injection. She would be sound asleep in another twenty minutes, maybe even before they got all the way to Stephen's. He lived on the other side of town, in a gated community with rolling estates that overlooked the ocean. Obviously his house was huge and had a pool and everything, but it wasn't a home. Rae always teased him that he'd be embarrassed if his parents came here and saw his house, with things still in boxes. He'd visited Ireland every chance he got, but his parents hadn't actually ever been the Florida to see his home. They'd only been to America twice, once for Stephen's match at Extreme Rules, Rae had met them there, and the second, when Rae had run away to Ireland at fourteen, and they'd flown back with her to L.A.

Pulling into Stephen's driveway, the house was still dark. They must have beaten him here. Not that that mattered because Raleigh had a key to house anyway, just in case. She helped her mother to her feet and led her inside the massive house.

"I'm sorry Rae-Rae, you wanted to have a good day, I'm sorry." Carmen apologized, using Raleigh's nickname as a child. She hadn't called her that in a while.

"It's okay Momma, let's just get you upstairs and get you to bed." Rae said unlocking the door to the palatial estate. She led her mother to the guest room on the first floor that she was used to. It was done up in pastels and was one of the only rooms that was finished. Rae had done it the summer before last as a surprise. Stephen had been gone the whole summer and she'd wanted to do up his whole house so it would feel cozier, but she'd ended up only having the time and money for one room.

Rae closed the door and left her mother to rest. It would be at least four or five hours before she woke up from the medications, and even then she'd be sleepy. Rae kind of felt bad since she didn't have any idea what Stephen had had planned for his day. She wandered into the kitchen to get a drink. However, upon opening the fridge she came to find that all he had to offer was one bottle of bud light lime, and a mostly empty jar of peanut butter. Wow, she would have to remember to stock his fridge next time she knew he was coming home. Grabbing a glass from the cupboard she turned to the faucet and got some water. She walked out onto the back deck and sat in one of the beach chairs. Stephen's property really was amazing, he had the pool right here, which was good sized and a Jacuzzi tub, but the best part was the view of the water, with 300 feet of private sandy beach. It was a shame he was gone so much and couldn't really enjoy it, but he was doing what he loved.

She started to drift off to sleep when she suddenly heard the door from the living room shut. She got up and sauntered back into the house to find Stephen carrying two grocery bags into the kitchen.

"Hey, sorry about all that. I really don't think Harmony used any of her medications while I was gone. I kind of felt like she was going to have a big one this time." Rae said, helping him with the bags.

"It's alright girlie, no harm. I bought some things for the house, there isn't much here and we never did have lunch." Stephen said pulling various items out of the bags. Rae looked at his purchases with an eyebrow raised. That was one thing about Stephen, he'd never been good at planning things out. He never cooked for himself since he was always on the road, so she wasn't surprised when his purchases matched what he and the guys may have normally bought as snacks at a gas station.

"Well, I think I can make a late lunch out of this, although it may be hot pocket surprise." Rae laughed, digging into the items. There was pasta at least and some chicken, she could work with that.

"I know I don't really know what to get, but I tried to get all the ingredients for that chicken dish you make all the time, that really good one. I thought I'd get the grill going maybe." Stephen said, opening the chicken and putting it in a pan to season.

"Um, I think we'd better stick to indoor grilling, you've still got that George foreman grill I got you here somewhere, I don't think you've replaced that propane since the last time it ran out." Rae said with a chuckle. She'd helped him host a housewarming party when he first bought the place and they'd run out of propane halfway thru, she'd had to transfer all the food inside and grill it on the tiny George foreman; it had been a blast though.

"Oh yeah your probably right. Hey, how's your mom?" Stephen asked suddenly remembering why they'd come here.

"She's sleeping now. You know I thought it was odd that all her injections were still in the case when I picked her up. I don't think Harmony used them on her all week, she's probably been having bad episodes all the time. It's not like Harmony to ignore her when she has a fit, and its not healthy." Rae said, pulling the mini griller out of a cabinet and putting it on the counter.

"Did you ask her yet? Maybe she was fine while you were gone, maybe its over." Stephen said looking at Rae sympathetically. He knew Carmen would always be on the verge of relapse. It was something that couldn't be helped, but he liked to give Raleigh some sense of hope.

"No I'll have to talk to her when I see her Monday, she's still watching her while I finish classes, and she'll have her most of the time while I'm on campus next semester." Rae said putting the chicken into the grill.

"Why don't you find a different place for her? Maybe it's time to think of a new caretaker, If Harmony's not watching her correctly, or giving her medicine when she should." Stephen added, mixing together some salad.

"I can't just find her a new care giver, it took long enough for her to learn to trust Harmony, and she has been improving as far as her violent outbursts. It's fine. I don't want to talk about it anymore." Rae said turning her back and pretending to get something out of the bags.

The rest of dinner went much better, they talked about how things had been on the road, and how Natsia was doing with her latest boyfriend. Nat always had a different guy, this week it was a surgeon down at Community Memorial who she had thought had a sexy voice when he phoned in scripts. Rae got all of Stephen's travel arrangements ready for the next couple weeks since he couldn't ever coordinate that stuff on his own. They laughed about the things Barbie said and how dense she was, and cleaned up the kitchen. It was a relatively nice night, but Rae still had it in the back of her head that Stephen wanted her to look for somewhere else for her mother. Nat had suggested it once too back when Harmony had left Carmen alone for two hours. Nothing had happened, but it could have. Harmony was a good friend though, she'd known Carmen and Rae since they moved to St. Augustine and it would be hard to explain why they were going to someone else. It seemed Raleigh had a lot of thinking to do.


End file.
